The Cinematic Return of 'El Pueblo'

Abstract

This seminar addresses contemporary figurations of “el pueblo” in Latin American cinema with a focus on Villa del Cine’s film productions. Taking into account what François Lyotard termed the “end of grand narratives” and the concomitant abandonment of the political imperative in Latin American filmmaking, I argue that Villa del Cine’s films constitute a unique development in contemporary filmmaking by distancing themselves from the pre-New Latin American Cinema (NLAC) melodramas, as well as from the NLAC films of the 1960s that were made “for the people.” In particular, I bring attention to a politicized phenomenon in a contemporary Latin American filmmaking scene that stands in stark contrast with trends identified by the majority of scholars as being depoliticized. Here I will query this new form of political filmmaking by engaging with the theoretical paradigms advanced by Ernesto Laclau, Gilles Deleuze, and Gonzalo Aguilar.